The present invention relates to the technical field of submersible marine vehicles.
Submersible marine vehicles which are designed to be operated by a swimmer or diver at underwater depths of several hundred feet are now well known in the art. Two notable examples are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,423,278 and 5,634,423, both issued to Lashman. Each of these inventions generally includes a submersible marine vessel, operable both upon and beneath the water. Each vessel includes a water-tight hull elongated along a longitudinal axis corresponding to an intended direction of travel. The hull also has a pair of lateral hand gripping means or handles, and a velocity control switch is operably associated with each handle. A battery, disposed with the fluid-tight hull, provides power to a motor/propeller assembly. The motor/propeller assembly is generally disposed within a protective shroud which is integral with and extends downwardly from the underside of the hull.
Recreational versions of the above patents exhibit similar designs. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,753 issued to Chih, et al., comprises a water-tight main body or hull containing a battery, but the motor/propeller assembly is disposed within a shroud which is behind and in axial alignment with the hull.
These prior art marine vehicle designs have several limitations, especially when the designs are applied to recreational users who are not well trained in the safe operation of a marine vehicle. A significant limitation is that the propeller is positioned such that the operator""s fingers or hand may come in contact with the rotating propeller, causing severe bodily injury. Another limitation is that the designs are, in general, bulky in that the propeller compartment is separated from the water-tight hull.
The present invention provides a marine vehicle for recreational use which overcomes the limitations described above and provides several other advantages.
The present invention generally includes a submersible marine vehicle for recreational use in which a propeller and motor assembly is disposed within the vehicle""s hull and a battery is disposed beneath the hull. More specifically, the front end of the hull contains a plurality of inlets and the back end contains a plurality of outlets. However, the inlets and outlets are not large enough to permit a user""s hand or fingers to come into contact with the propeller. The propeller and motor assembly is disposed within, rather than below, the hull such the propeller is adjacent to the hull""s front end and the motor is adjacent to the hull""s back end. The propeller has at least one propeller blade, with the blade having a leading edge aft of a trailing edge.
The hull also includes a pair of fins which are integral with the hull, each fin extending horizontally and away from the hull. Each fin contains a hand hold, extending downwardly and away from the underside surface of the fin. A pair of curved tracking fins are attached to opposite sides of the bottom side of the hull, each curved tracking fin extending outwardly and downwardly away from the hull.
A water-tight housing, attached to the bottom of the hull, contains two compartments: one compartment holds a battery which powers the propeller and motor assembly, and which provides ballast to the vehicle, and the other compartment contains buoyant material in order to provide buoyancy to the vehicle.